Mid-infrared (MIR) lasers have revolutionized infrared vibrational spectroscopy, converting an already dominant spectroscopic analysis technique into an even more powerful, easier to use, and quicker turnaround cadre of versatile spectroscopic tools. A selection of applications, revisited under the umbrella of MIR laserbased properties, very high brightness, collimated beams, polarized sources, highly monochromatic tunable sources, and coherent sources, is included. Applications discussed concern enhanced detection, discrimination, and quantification of high explosives (HEs). From reflectance measurements of chemical residues on highly reflective metallic substrates to reflectance measurements of HEs deposited on non-reflective, matte substrates is discussed. Coupling with multivariate analyses (MVA) techniques of Chemometrics allowed near trace detection of HEs, with sharp discrimination from highly MIR absorbing substrates.